High North (CCW)
Icy channels and frozen ground make the Northern Vadraedic Ocean one of the most inhospitable regions of the world. But humans have ventured here nonetheless, settling and even thriving at the very edge of civilization. It is considered part of the Blind Shores region of human civilization. The Winterlands Main article: the Winterlands Rumor is there are humans in the far northern reaches of the world, or better yet, deposits of valuable resources. In any case, perhaps it’s time the great civilizations did some more exploring before the other races beat them to it. Only vague reports have returned so far: terrifying sea monsters, islands that are alive, a passage to the center of the earth...exaggerated, no doubt, but interesting nonetheless. Arcland Main article: Arcland A long narrow island north of Midland; the last northern outpost of humanity. Its inhabitants were once feared as raiders, then gained legitimacy as fur trappers and traders, then as warm humanitarians, welcoming thousands of Dory people fleeing genocide in Midland. Its capital and largest city, Hegeta, is now a surprisingly busy and populous place for somewhere so inhospitable. Arclanders have transformed their home into a rather comfortable and beautiful place—simple, serene, well-adjusted to frequent shifts in environment and population. Arcland, perhaps uniquely so, has never been colonized, or been a colonizer. Unless you believe their stories of ancient exploration, far into the Winterlands. Midland Main article: Midland Much has changed since the forebears of Celtheste emigrated from Midland, and yet much remains the same. Colonized briefly by Makala, then conquered by Dalceran and later Capaliso, Midland has been tossed from one empire to another, but remains primarily locked in a war with itself. Feudal, ethnic, and religious conflicts have ravaged this minor continent—the “land that civilization forgot.” Unlike the rest of the increasingly overcrowded human world, Midland remains eerily desolate. Only the occasional herding group traverses the wide open grounds of stubby green and hard, frigid earth. And no one in their right mind ventures into the dark, sirenic hills, riddled with bullet holes, littered with mines, and smoldering with unspent spells. On paper, the whole of Midland, including the massive mainland and its smaller island ancillaries, has been unified under one authority since the early first century kq, though you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at it. The Great Evindal Kosrine, a pseudo-empire formed and reformed out of the various Cosmacan religious wars, is still technically the highest political body on Midland despite its dilapidated status. The Kosrine, an arm of the Santolian church, lost its already feeble political authority when fanatical Keaslians across the six main kingdoms elected their own Kosr in 558. Meanwhile, another dramatic campaign was beginning in The Doors (Anta Portias), Midland’s northern archipelago. Exiles of the Dory ethnic diaspora, whose ancestors had been victims of a horrific genocide in Kq 67, returned to forcefully retake their homeland. Colonial Interference It was in the midst of this explosive conflict that Capaliso arrived on the scene—first as arbitrator, then as civilizing conqueror. A tense ceasefire was declared, and the project of modernization began in earnest. Capaliso, like Dalceran and Makala before it, had come to tame the barbaric proclivities of Midland’s tragic human geography. Except, of course, Capaliso and its peers had always played a part in sowing the chaos themselves. It was the Sunyans who had goaded the Keaslians into rebellion and the Capalesians themselves who trained and supplied the Dory shock troops. One must ask, then, if civilization has not forgotten Midland after all. If, perhaps, civilization has quite actively and intentionally forsaken her. For answers, look no further than Caerula Cano, Midland’s largest and only city—an independent polity and bustling trade port dating back two thousand years. Peace-loving, cosmopolitan, and close to Capaliso in culture and values, the city submitted quickly and quietly to Capalesian rule. But when Santolian citizens refused an order to imprison their Keaslian compatriots, their demonstrations were met with shockingly brutal reprisal. The situation only escalated from there, culminating in rebellion and the near destruction of the city entirely. In context, this was the twelfth sack of Caerula Cano at the hands of a foreign power in the current era. Is it any wonder, then, that our image of Midland remains haggard children, huddled in a crumbling castles, clutching rifles? Major Kingdoms The phrase “Great Evindal Kosrine,” is often invoked to refer specifically to the six major kingdoms of Midland—'Tercador', Indrolor, Fraise, Grell, Larelot, and Elmhal—along with the ancestral islands of the Avony people, The Avonesles. These kingdoms continue to wage small scale wars with each other, while jointly reasserting their authority in the Doors. Many texts outdatedly refer to Wenselor as the fifth kingdom of Midland, though it has now been supplanted by Elmhal. A seventh kingdom, Cearsie-of-the-Doors, was briefly founded as a new homeland for the Indrisaender ethnicity, but it was quickly subsumed by the Fraisians. The Avonesles are not a kingdom at all, rather they are ruled directly by the Kosr, elected from among the kings of Midland. Notes: It was due in large part to the rebellion in Caerula Cano that Capaliso abandoned its Celthestan campaign. Beyond * The Inkfish of Icata